1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing which generates a digital document in which contents are inserted in a plurality of containers in accordance with the definition of a document template.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, applications have diversified and gained multi-functions, and have many controls and display items. Along with the diversification and multi-functionality of applications, the number of items to be displayed increases inevitably. Conventionally, the number of display items is increased by utilizing switching by means of multi-windows and tab controls.
A system that allows a plurality of users to browse and update information managed by a server and database using their client applications has prevailed. In such system, the number of display items of the client application increases with increasing number of pieces of information managed by the server and database, thus complicating the display contents.
In case of the system which allows the user to browse and update information managed by the server and database using an application having many display items, it is difficult for the user to discriminate changed portions from the previous browse/update timing until the current browse/update timing. This is because the user must check all the many display items to discriminate the changed portions. In addition, the user must switch the display items by means of multi-windows and tab controls, and cannot check all the display items unless he or she makes a plurality of times of operations. As a result, even when given information has gone through an important change, the user may not notice that change.
A method of presenting changed portions by changing the text color of the changed portions, making pointed display of the changed portion, or the like has been proposed. This method assumes presentation of changed portions applied to data managed by a server and database, and does not present, to the user, changed portions from the previous browse/update timing until the current browse/update timing of the user.
Also, an automatic layout system which prepares a plurality of containers in a limited region, inserts data from a database into containers, and dynamically arranges the containers is known. The automatic layout system can variably set the container size of the inserted text and image. However, the layout system is a system for inserting predetermined data into a predetermined container, and displaying the data, and cannot automatically lay out data changed portions desired by the user in a form easy to understand for his or her.
For example, assume that there is a database which stores an infinite number of data, and containers A and B whose size is variable (to be referred to as “variable containers” hereinafter) are created. In this state, data are inserted in variable containers A and B and are displayed. When both the data to be inserted into variable containers A and B are large and cannot fall within a window, the sizes of the data to be inserted into variable containers A and B are made equal or these data are displayed to fall within the window in a predetermined priority order.
The priority order means a permissible amount of a size change amount which is decided in advance for each variable container. When permissible amounts are set for respective variable containers, a variable container with a large permissible amount is displayed in a size close to the set size as much as possible, and a variable container with a small permissible amount need not have a size close to the set size.
Such layout system suffers the following problems. For example, assume that the high priority order is set in container B, and the contents of container A have changed from the previous browse timing of the user. In this case, the layout is made based on the priority order irrespective of the change in contents of container A. As a result, the display size of container A with the low priority order is too small to display the changed portion, and the user may not notice the change in contents.